River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,858,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 72,131 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Co. makes up 1.7% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Co. were worth $82,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WFC. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Alpha Windward LLC raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Alpha Windward LLC now owns 6,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 14,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Sharkey Howes & Javer raised its stake in Wells Fargo & Co. by 0.7% in the second quarter. Sharkey Howes & Javer now owns 5,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.80% of the company’s stock.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) traded up 0.88% during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.62. 9,635,745 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Wells Fargo & Co. has a 1-year low of $43.55 and a 1-year high of $56.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.64 and a 200 day moving average of $47.87. The firm has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.93.

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.02. The company earned $22.30 billion during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Co. had a net margin of 23.91% and a return on equity of 12.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Co. will post $4.03 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 4th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 2nd. Wells Fargo & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.44%.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays PLC reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (down previously from $58.00) on shares of Wells Fargo & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, October 18th. Vetr lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $45.66 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, November 9th. FBR & Co lowered shares of Wells Fargo & Co. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 19th. restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Co. in a research note on Tuesday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Cos. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Co. in a research note on Thursday, October 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.56.